Angelica Krubeck – Spring 2021 Award Recipient

Our next award recipient is Angelica Krubeck, a sophomore at STEM Academy @ Forsyth Central High School. She is the founder of the nonprofit Super Science Kids, Inc, which empowers and engages at-risk youth using STEM. Watch her interview with Get Involved Foundation here. Read the write-up of her project below.

My story began when I was eight. In a quiet moment, my friend opened up to me. She told me about her life in a shelter and how hard every day was. It was that moment that set my journey in motion. It would end up guiding me on a path of hard work and perseverance.

I decided I needed to do something to help kids who were going through tough times. I wanted to lift them up somehow. I brainstormed with my grandpa and came up with joining two things that I love: empowering kids and sharing my love for science. Shortly after, I founded the nonprofit Super Science Kids, Inc. Our mission is to empower and engage at risk youth using STEM. We do this in three main ways: design/distribute free homemade STEM kits, provide science station events, and partner with science professionals/organizations to provide workshops/field trips.

It’s been five years and I’ve been able to reach over 6,500 at risk youth in Georgia, throughout the US during three cross country science tours, in Uganda, Thailand, Philippines, and teaching kids in China via Zoom. The kids I serve live in shelters, are immigrants, low-income homes, refugees, live on Indian Reservations, LGBTQ teens in shelters, single parent homes, have incarcerated parents, or in fostercare. I provide them with opportunities to build, explore and investigate. In this way, they realize the potential they have. I’m excited to share that 60% of our volunteers are youth themselves.

My favorite part of serving is seeing the kids have fun making the science stuff. During one of my first science station events, one of the girls living at the shelter came up to me. We sat down together and I helped her make a craft stick harmonica to study sound vibrations. When she blew into the harmonica, her face lit up. She was so amazed that she could make something that made this sound. I smiled so big and asked her to write down some of her observations. She wrote: I found out that this thingy can make a cool sound.

Another story is when I served at a refugee after school program. The director warned me beforehand that there was a boy that had relocated from Ghana and had been very detached lately. She urged me not to take it personal. Throughout the event, he became very enthusiastic about every station he explored. The director later took me aside and thanked me. She said it was the first time she had seen him so excited, smiling, and jumping up and down. I hope we were able to ignite a love for STEM in both of these students.